Objective To explore brain plasticity of upper extremities motor function recovery after stroke with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Methods 25 stroke patients with internal capsule lesions and affected corticospinal tract (CST), 4-8 weeks after onset, were divided randomly into rehabilitation group (n=13) and control group (n=12). Both groups received routine medication and the rehabilitation group also received rehabilitation. All the patients were scanned with DTI and assessed with upper extremity Fugl-Myer Assessment (UE-FMA) before and 3 months after treatment. The fractional anisotropy (FA), FA ratio (rFA) and FA asymmetry (FAasy) in cerebral peduncle, posterior limb of internal capsule (PLIC) and corona radiate were obtained. The bilateral corticospinal tracts were reconstructed with diffusion tensor tractography. Results The scores of UE-FMA increased in both groups after treatment (P<0.05), and increased more in the rehabilitation group than in the control group (P<0.05). There was significant difference in FA, rFA and FAasy in the corona radiate section of CST after treatment in the rehabilitation group (P<0.05), but was not in the cerebral peduncle and PLIC section. However, there was no significant differences in FA, rFA and FAasy in the control group. The ipsilesional CST fibers were more compact after treatment in the rehabilitation group. Conclusion Rehabilitation can improve the upper extremities function recovery after stroke, which may associated with the repairment of CST in the corona radiate section.

Objective To explore the relationship between corticospinal tract (CST) repairment and motor function recovery after rehabilitation in stroke patients by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Methods 15 stroke patients with internal capsule lesions and injured CST, 4-8 weeks after onset were included. They were scanned with DTI and assessed with the simple Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) before and after 3-month rehabilitation. The fractional anisotropy (FA), FA ratio (rFA) and FA asymmetry (FAasy) in cerebral peduncle, posterior limb of internal capsule (PLIC) and corona radiate were obtained. The correlation of differences of FA, rFA and FAasy of CST with FMA was analyzed. Results The scores of FMA increased after treatment (P<0.01). The FA of the ipsilesional CST were significantly less than that of contralesional ones before and after rehabilitation. There was statistical differences in FA, rFA and FAasy in the corona radiate section of CST after treatment (P<0.05), but was not in the cerebral peduncle and PLIC section. However, there was no significant correlation of FA, rFA and FAasy of corona radiate section to scores of FMA. Conclusion DTI can respond to the repairment of corticospinal tract after stroke, especially in the corona radiate section.

Laboratory animals and animal experiments are foundations and important support conditions for life sciences, especially for medical research. The animal experiments have drawn extensive attention from the society because of the ethical issue. This paper takes Wenzhou Medical University as an example to give a brief introduction to the ethical review about laboratory animals in the university so as to further draw attention and concerns from the public about the ethical issue of laboratory animals. We successively introduce its scientific projects, nurturing environment and ethical review of laboratory animals.
Animal Experimentation ; ethics ; Animals ; Animals, Laboratory ; Universities

OBJECTIVETo investigate the feasibility of immediate breast and nipple-areola reconstruction after skin-sparing mastectomy.

METHODS24 patients who received skin-sparing mastectomy underwent immediate breast reconstruction with or without breast implants. The nipple-areola complex is also reconstructed with the skin paddle of the latissimus dorsi flap in one stage.

RESULTSAll the latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flaps survived completely. Partial necrosis happened in two reconstructed nipples which healed after dress changing. The follow-up period ranged from 6 to 12 months. 3 patients presented with capsular contracture (Baker I), with no necessary of surgical revision. The retraction rate of reconstructed nipples projection is 35.4% at 6 months postoperatively and 38.6% at 12 months postoperatively. 91.7% of patients were satisfied or very satisfied with the breast shape, while 83.3% were satisfied or very satisfied with the breast volume. All the patients considered the reconstructed nipple very good, while 91.6% were satisfied with the nipple projection. 91.7% considered immediate nipple reconstruction to be very important, and 8.3% considered it to be important. 66.7% considered the new breast could replace the breast they had lost, and 8.3% considered that it could not.

CONCLUSIONFor skin-sparing mastectomy, immediate breast and nipple reconstruction can achieve good aesthetic results.

Breast Neoplasms ; surgery ; Esthetics ; Female ; Humans ; Mammaplasty ; methods ; psychology ; Myocutaneous Flap ; transplantation ; Nipples ; surgery ; Superficial Back Muscles ; transplantation

Objective To investigate the protective effect of carnosine on radiation-induced lung injury in mice.Methods A total of 108 C57/BL female mice were randomly divided into 4 groups:control group without treatment,irradiation alone group,irradiation + carnosine group (15 mg·kg-1·d-1),and carnosine alone group (15 mg· kg-1· d-1).There were 18 mice in control group and 30 mice in every other group.Whole lung anterior chest was irradiated with a single dose of 13 Gy 10 MV X-rays.The mice were administered with carnosine (15 mg· kg-1· d-1) at 30 minutes before irradiation and then garaged once a day until the end of the experiment.The control group was given with saline.At 7,28,and 56 d after irradiation,6 mice of control group and 10 mice of each other group were killed.A portion of lung tissues were stained with HE and other part of lung tissues were used to detect the levels of SOD.Meanwhile,TGF-β1 and TNF-α in the serum were detected with ELISA.Results Different levels of inflammation factors were expressed in the lung tissues of irradiation group and irradiation + carnosine group at 56 d after irradiation,but the inflammation in the irradiation + carnosine group was significantly lighter than that in the irradiation group.Among (7,28 and 56 d) after radiation,TGF-β1,TNF-α,and SOD levels in different groups had significant differences.At the same time point after irradiation,the level of SOD in lung tissue of irradiation + carnosine group was significantly higher than that of irradiation group (F =4.33,4.19,3.34,P ＜0.05),but the levels of TGF-β1 and TNF-α in serum were reduced.Conclusions Carnosine can prevent and inhibit radiation-induced lung injury in mice by increasing SOD and reducing TGF-β1 and TNF-α.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the protein expression of caveolin-1 in type II alveolar epithelial cells (A549) exposed to carbon black nanoparticles (CB NPs) and the role of caveolin in the endocytosis of CB NPs.

METHODSA549 cells were exposed to 0, 25, 50, 100, 200, and 400 µg/ml CB NPs for 24 h; then, trypan blue assay was applied to determine the cell viability. A549 cells were also exposed to 0, 25, 50, and 100 µg/ml CB NPs for 24 h, then, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and flow cytometry were applied to observe the morphological change of cells and cellular side scatter (SSC), and Western blot was used to analyze the effect of CB NPs on the protein expression of caveolin-1. A549 cells were co-exposed to1 µg/ml filipin and 100 µg/ml CB NPs for 24 h, then, the cellular SSC was observed.

RESULTSCompared with controls, the A549 cells exposed to 200 and 400 µg/ml CB NPs had the cell viability decreased by 38.2% and 46.6%, respectively (P < 0.05), while those exposed to 25, 50, and 100 µg/ml CB NPs showed no significant decrease in cell vitality (P > 0.05). The protein expression of caveolin-1 was significantly higher in the cells exposed to 50 and 100 µg/ml CB NPs than in controls (P < 0.05). The TEM showed that plasmalemmal vesicles containing black particles were found in the cytoplasm of the cells exposed to 50 and 100 µg/ml CB NPs. The flow cytometry showed that the cellular SSC ratio increased from 1.007 to 1.331 as the dose of CB NPs rose within 0 ∼ 100 µg/ml and fell to 1.25 after the cells were co-exposed to1 µg/ml filipin and 100 µg/ml CB NPs.

CONCLUSIONCarbon black nanoparticles can be transferred into A549 cells by endocytosis, but caveolin-mediated endocytic pathway plays a minor role in this process.

Caveolin 1 ; physiology ; Cell Line ; Endocytosis ; Humans ; Nanoparticles ; Soot ; pharmacokinetics

Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides ; biosynthesis ; Hepacivirus ; pathogenicity ; Hepcidins ; Iron ; metabolism ; Liver ; chemistry ; metabolism ; pathology

To study the effect of plant-derived smoke water on the accumulation of biomass and active substance of Salvia miltiorrhiza f. alba, seedlings of S. miltiorrhiza were treated with different concentrations of smoke water (1:500, 1: 1 000, 1: 2 000). The fresh weight and dry weight of underground part, the number of split-root, maximum root diameter, average root diameter, average root length, the content of lipophilic components and water-soluble components were measured. Results showed that fresh weight and dry weight of underground part were respectively improved by 98.01%, 44.32% and 85.71%, 28.57% with significant difference by smoke water treatment with concentration of 1: 500 and 1: 1 000. Maximum root diameter and dry weight of underground part were respectively enhanced by 58.44% and 85.71% by smoke water with concentration of 1:500. The content of tanshinone I and tanshinone II(A) were improved by smoke water treatment, however there were no significantly difference on the content of cryptotanshinone and dihydrotan shinone. This study indicates that smoke water treatment could be used to improve the accumulation of biomass and active substance content of S. miltiorrhiza f. alba, which could provide new ideas for its green cultivating.
Agriculture ; methods ; Biomass ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; metabolism ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Smoke ; analysis ; Water ; chemistry ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the correlations among persistent viral infection, heart function and Chinese medicine (CM) difined-syndromes in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

METHODSFifty patients with DCM in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University from October 2009 to December 2011 were selected as the research subjects, and 30 healthy people were simultaneously selected as the normal control group to detect persistent viral infections after admission. The CM syndrome type and grade of heart function were then evaluated. The expression level of Coxsackie adenovirus receptor (CAR) was detected using the flow cytometry (FCM) technique, coxsackie virus RNA (CVB-RNA) using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR), and the plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) level with a Triage meter plus diagnosis instrument. Finally, the parameters such as left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVEDd) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were measured by ultrasonic cardiogram. Person correlation analysis was used for measured data, Spearman correlation analysis for rating data, and the Chi-square test for numerical data.

RESULTSCVB-RNA was positive in 22 patients (44%) with DCM, while only 6 cases (20%) were CVB-RNA-positive in the normal control group, with a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.01). The expression level of CAR was significantly elevated in the DCM group compared with the normal control group (P<0.01). In CVB-RNA-positive patients (22 cases), the expression level of CAR was significantly higher than in CVB-RNA-negative patients (28 cases; P<0.01). In the DCM patients, there was a positive correlation between the CAR expression and the BNP level (r=0.34, P<0.05), while no significant difference was found between the CAR expression and the LVEF and LVEDd (r=-0.32, 0.30, P>0.05). There was no clear correlation between virus infection and the CM syndrome types in DCM patients (r=-0.22, P>0.05). According to the sequence of syndrome types: phlegm → qi deficiency → blood stasis → hydroretention with asthenic yang (from low to high), a positive correlation was existed between the BNP levels and CM syndrome types (r=0.139, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe expression of CAR on the surface of white cells could be used to detect persistent viral infection. The expression level of CAR and heart function in DCM patients were highly correlated. The expression level of BNP may serve as an objective index for differentiating CM syndromes for patients with DCM.

Adult ; Aged ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated ; blood ; complications ; physiopathology ; virology ; Coxsackie and Adenovirus Receptor-Like Membrane Protein ; Coxsackievirus Infections ; blood ; complications ; physiopathology ; Female ; Heart Function Tests ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; blood ; RNA, Viral ; blood ; Syndrome

OBJECTIVETo prepare microencapsulated cells releasing human tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2), and investigate their biological characteristics in vitro.

METHODSChinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were stably transfected with a human TIMP-2 expression vector, encapsulated in barium alginate microcapsules and cultured in vitro. Morphological appearance of the microcapsules was observed under a light microscope. Cell viability was assessed using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol- 2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reverse zymography were used to confirm the release of biologically active TIMP-2 from the microcapsules. Cryopreservation study of the microencapsulated cells was carried out using dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as preservative agent.

RESULTSThe microcapsules appeared like a sphere with diameter of 300 - approximately 600 microm. The surface of the capsule wall was clearly smooth. The microencapsulated cells survived well and kept proliferating over the 6 weeks observed. No significant difference in TIMP-2 secretion was found between encapsulated and unencapsulated cells. Reverse zymography confirmed the bioactivity of MMP (matrix metalloproteinase) inhibition of TIMP-2. The cryopreservation process did not damage the microcapsule morphology nor the viability of the cells inside.

CONCLUSIONMicroencapsulated engineered CHO cells survive at least 6 weeks after preparation in vitro, and secrete bioactive TIMP-2 freely from the microcapsules.

Animals ; CHO Cells ; Cells, Immobilized ; Cricetinae ; Cryopreservation ; Humans ; Microspheres ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Tissue Engineering ; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2 ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Transfection